NOTICE: Due to a lapse in annual appropriations, most of this website is not being updated. Learn more.

Form submissions will still be accepted but will not receive responses at this time. Sections of this site for programs using non-appropriated funds (such as NVLAP) or those that are excepted from the shutdown (such as CHIPS and NVD) will continue to be updated.

U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Official websites use .gov
A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States.

Secure .gov websites use HTTPS
A lock ( ) or https:// means you’ve safely connected to the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.

PUBLICATIONS

Automation and Testing of Character-Graphic Programs

Published

Author(s)

Don E. Libes

Abstract

This paper describes a technique that allows automation and testing of character graphic programs using existing public-domain tools. Specifically, Tcl, Tk, and Expect are augmented with a terminal emulator in order to build a screen representation in memory. This screen can be queried in a high-level way and the interaction can be further controlled based on the screen representation. One immediate use of this tool is to build a test suite for automating standards conformance of the interactive programs in POSIX 1003.2 (Interactive Shells and Utilities). This technique is portable and inexpensive. All the software described in this paper is free or in the public domain.
Citation
Software - Practice & Experience, John Wiley & Sons, West Sussex, England
Volume
27:2
Pub Type
Journals

Download Paper

Local Download

Keywords

conformance testing, Expect, interaction automation, POSIX 1003.2, regression testing, Tcl/Tk

Citation

Libes, D. (1997), Automation and Testing of Character-Graphic Programs, Software - Practice & Experience, John Wiley & Sons, West Sussex, England, [online], https://tsapps.nist.gov/publication/get_pdf.cfm?pub_id=821279 (Accessed October 16, 2025)

Issues

If you have any questions about this publication or are having problems accessing it, please contact [email protected].

Created February 1, 1997, Updated February 17, 2017
Was this page helpful?